Blood Bowl
Posted: 31 Mar 2020 04:04
Is anyone else playing it?
I've been playing this game for many years now and it's one of my goto games for some ridiculous fantasy fun. For those not in the know it's a game where teams composed of Warhammer world creatures play against each other in a parody of rugby (with more hitting each other). Basically, you play the role of a team coach/manager, hiring players who gain experience for matches, gain new skills (or sustain horrific injuries) and develop over the course of their career.
Despite it being completely ridiculous and imbalanced affair it's actually a very fun and challenging strategy game. It's available in the tabletop format since the mid '80's and in computer game format in the form of Blood Bowl, Blood Bowl 2 and FUMBBL. BB1 and BB2 games differ in price, graphics and have a few different teams (none of them has all of them). FUMBBL is f2p as it runs in a Java applet (it can run on a potato) and has all the teams available.
I'm sometimes streaming my games on FUMBBL in the genesis discord if you'd like to see how it looks like. If more people here play this or are interested in starting out we could maybe even create a Genesis League.
In any case, if you'd like to start here are some resources:
FUMBBL: https://fumbbl.com/
YouTube streams of BB1/BB2 games with commentary:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkdy8M ... uv217TFtJw
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGjD6w ... MmDmGZw7WA
If you decide to pick up the game in any format here are some quick tips to get you started:
1. If you're new pick Orcs, Shambling Undead (just Undead in BB1/BB2) or Dark Elves. Those are the most "newbie friendly" teams and are pretty great at learning the game. Orcs are a bash team, which means they're slow to score but bully the opposition on the pitch, they're also very tough. Undead are a bash team with some fast but fragile players to handle the ball in the form of ghouls and Dark Elves are a versatile team that can outbash other elf teams and outelf other bash teams (just keep in mind you're the weakest bash team and the weakes elf team so you have to play counter to your opponent), pick them up if you like some more fancy playstyle with passing the ball around etc.
2. Minimize the risks. Seriously, this game is all about minimizing the risk. Since you're throwing D6's in it it means that each +/-1 to your roll is a whooping 17% chance swing. Also, in this game your turn lasts until you've activated all of your players or failed a roll with one (at which point your turn ends immediately) so it's imperative to manage this. Best way to do that in the beginning is to start with actions that are 100% safe, meaning actions that don't require any roll (standing fallen players up, moving about without having to dodge, etc.) or that might require a dice roll but there's no chance of a turnover (stabbing people, hypnotic gaze etc.). Then you proceed to actions that have the highest probability of success (2 dice blocks, 2+/3+ dodges with dodge skill) and move on to more risky stuff (one die blocks, 2+/3+ dodges without dodge skill, picking up the ball, handing over the ball).
I've been playing this game for many years now and it's one of my goto games for some ridiculous fantasy fun. For those not in the know it's a game where teams composed of Warhammer world creatures play against each other in a parody of rugby (with more hitting each other). Basically, you play the role of a team coach/manager, hiring players who gain experience for matches, gain new skills (or sustain horrific injuries) and develop over the course of their career.
Despite it being completely ridiculous and imbalanced affair it's actually a very fun and challenging strategy game. It's available in the tabletop format since the mid '80's and in computer game format in the form of Blood Bowl, Blood Bowl 2 and FUMBBL. BB1 and BB2 games differ in price, graphics and have a few different teams (none of them has all of them). FUMBBL is f2p as it runs in a Java applet (it can run on a potato) and has all the teams available.
I'm sometimes streaming my games on FUMBBL in the genesis discord if you'd like to see how it looks like. If more people here play this or are interested in starting out we could maybe even create a Genesis League.
In any case, if you'd like to start here are some resources:
FUMBBL: https://fumbbl.com/
YouTube streams of BB1/BB2 games with commentary:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkdy8M ... uv217TFtJw
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGjD6w ... MmDmGZw7WA
If you decide to pick up the game in any format here are some quick tips to get you started:
1. If you're new pick Orcs, Shambling Undead (just Undead in BB1/BB2) or Dark Elves. Those are the most "newbie friendly" teams and are pretty great at learning the game. Orcs are a bash team, which means they're slow to score but bully the opposition on the pitch, they're also very tough. Undead are a bash team with some fast but fragile players to handle the ball in the form of ghouls and Dark Elves are a versatile team that can outbash other elf teams and outelf other bash teams (just keep in mind you're the weakest bash team and the weakes elf team so you have to play counter to your opponent), pick them up if you like some more fancy playstyle with passing the ball around etc.
2. Minimize the risks. Seriously, this game is all about minimizing the risk. Since you're throwing D6's in it it means that each +/-1 to your roll is a whooping 17% chance swing. Also, in this game your turn lasts until you've activated all of your players or failed a roll with one (at which point your turn ends immediately) so it's imperative to manage this. Best way to do that in the beginning is to start with actions that are 100% safe, meaning actions that don't require any roll (standing fallen players up, moving about without having to dodge, etc.) or that might require a dice roll but there's no chance of a turnover (stabbing people, hypnotic gaze etc.). Then you proceed to actions that have the highest probability of success (2 dice blocks, 2+/3+ dodges with dodge skill) and move on to more risky stuff (one die blocks, 2+/3+ dodges without dodge skill, picking up the ball, handing over the ball).